From Apocalypse Boss to Farmer: My Vegetables Make Me Stronger!-Chapter 22 - 20: I’m Afraid You Can’t Accept It

’Even her voice sounds so similar...’

Those few short words made the emotions Xv Yiyisan had just managed to suppress surge violently once more.

Back then, when his sister suddenly disappeared, everyone told him it was because the apocalypse was over. They said his sister had grown tired of the constant fighting and killing, so she had gone into seclusion with that person...

They even said they had to respect his sister’s wishes, so they destroyed all records related to her!

But it later turned out that the apocalypse wasn’t over, and his sister never appeared again!

Xv Yiyisan suppressed his emotions and lowered his gaze, looking at the hand the young woman extended toward him—it was fair and delicate, without any of the calluses and scars from his memories...

’This isn’t my sister’s hand.’

’My sister’s hands were always warm and strong!’

"Miss Gu." Xv Yiyisan controlled himself and shook her hand, his eyelids slightly lowered to hide the nostalgia in his eyes.

But he quickly composed himself and looked up at the young woman opposite him. "Forgive my rudeness, but your mother..."

Gu Xi instantly understood why the little crybaby was looking at her so strangely!

’It makes sense,’ she thought. ’Thirty years have passed, yet my appearance hasn’t changed at all. In fact, my skin is even fairer and more delicate than before. I look like I’m in my early twenties at most.’

’With this pale, frail, and delicate appearance, how could I possibly look like the apocalypse’s strongest expert who could take out the Zombie King with a single blow?’

No wonder the little crybaby thought that way.

In fact, it wasn’t just Xv Yiyisan; any normal person would probably think the same. Who could blame them, when she hadn’t aged in thirty years and had, instead, seemed to grow younger?

But this was getting a little awkward.

Fortunately, Wei Heng was there.

"Mr. Xv." Wei Heng frowned slightly and offered a subtle reminder, "Gu Xi has lived alone in the ruins since she was a child..."

Xv Yiyisan withdrew his hand, his gaze toward Gu Xi changing again. "I’m sorry, child. I just now..."

Gu Xi: "?" ’Wait, who are you calling ’child’?’ she thought. ’And what’s with that inexplicably pitying and benevolent look? Who are you looking at like that?’

Gu Xi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

But with the situation still unclear, it wasn’t a good time to reveal her identity to the little crybaby.

Besides...

Glancing at the somewhat laid-back man standing by the off-road vehicle, Gu Xi lowered her eyes slightly.

That man had been brazenly sizing her up the whole time.

His gaze held a mix of scrutiny and curiosity.

But since she didn’t sense any malice and had learned he was security personnel sent by the higher-ups to protect the agricultural experts, Gu Xi didn’t make a move.

After all, a malignant mutant plant incident had just occurred near the camp, and these agricultural experts, who were about to head into the wilderness to provide guidance, were mostly ordinary people.

It was only reasonable for the authorities to arrange for some powerful individuals to act as their security detail to ensure the professors’ and experts’ safety.

By now, the two professors who had gotten out of the car earlier were more or less done throwing up.

The Qin sisters had also arrived by now. They helped boil some hot water and steam a pot of sweet potatoes. After the two professors washed up a bit, everyone sat down together at the edge of Gu Xi’s field and began eating the sweet potatoes.

’These people came all this way to teach us how to farm,’ Gu Xi thought. ’Whether we need it or not, we should at least offer them breakfast.’

Gu Xi noticed that Xv Yiyisan was holding a sweet potato but eating absently. His gaze was almost constantly fixed on her, shifting between nostalgia, sorrow, wistfulness, and benevolence... In short, it was very complicated.

The other two agricultural experts, however, were eating the steamed sweet potatoes with great relish, letting out satisfied sighs from time to time, but their faces showed little surprise.

Apparently, they had already eaten the sweet potatoes she grew before coming here.

But the young man named Shen Yue was different.

The moment he took his first bite of sweet potato, his eyes lit up.

Then, the speed at which he ate the sweet potato noticeably increased.

After finishing the pot of sweet potatoes Wei Heng had brought out, the man even asked, still wanting more, "Are there any more?"

Wei Heng really wanted to say no. It wasn’t that he was stingy with a few sweet potatoes, but simply that... this guy ate too much!

There were about twenty sweet potatoes in the pot, each weighing around two pounds, and Shen Yue alone had eaten seven of them!

That was more than what the three agricultural experts had eaten combined!

With a cold expression, Wei Heng went back to the kitchen.

Xv Yiyisan was still staring at Gu Xi.

After finishing his sweet potato, Mr. Zhao, who looked the oldest, pulled up a handful of dewy wild grass to wipe his hands and said to Gu Xi with a smile, "Gu, it’s alright if I call you that, isn’t it?"

Gu Xi nodded. "Yes." ’Although, if we’re going by actual age, who knows which of us is older?’ she mused.

Mr. Zhao looked at the plot of land before them and said to Gu Xi with another smile, "Gu, the sweet potatoes you grow are excellent. Of course, I’ve also tried the watermelons and tomatoes. They taste wonderful."

"I’d like to know, besides these, have you grown any other crops?" Mr. Zhao tilted his head to look at Gu Xi, appearing very interested.

Gu Xi nodded and answered truthfully, "These past few days, I’ve also planted some radishes, bok choy, eggplants, green beans, and pumpkins..."

The seeds for these crops were all given to her by the Qin sisters.

Originally, when Wei Heng returned to the camp that day, he had planned to trade for some vegetable seeds, but Qin Shi stopped him, saying that she and her sister had some, so there was no need to waste money.

Wei Heng knew the seeds they had were likely better than the ones in the camp, so he didn’t refuse.

As a result, for the past few days, the Qin sisters had successfully used those seeds to get three meals a day from the other side of the creek.

Wei Heng was faintly worried, feeling as though his role was being threatened.

But Gu Xi thought it was perfectly fair: the Qin sisters provided the seeds, she was responsible for growing the vegetables, and Wei Heng was responsible for cooking... ’When you’re living and farming together, isn’t it all about dividing the labor and cooperating?’

’Makes perfect sense.’

When Mr. Zhao heard she had planted so many other vegetables, his eyes grew brighter and brighter, and he immediately suggested going to have a look.

Gu Xi, however, looked a bit troubled.

Because plants in the ground could mutate at any moment, Gu Xi only ever planted enough vegetables for that day’s needs. Even for easily stored crops like cabbage and radishes, she didn’t plant much.

—If you can eat them fresh, who would want to eat leftovers?

So, all that was left at home right now were the tough old leaves and stalks from what they’d eaten yesterday...

These experts and professors had come from so far away; it wasn’t easy for them. Gu Xi felt it was inappropriate to show them that.

She thought for a moment and suggested, "How about I plant one for you right now?"

Mr. Zhao was taken aback for a second, then nodded with a smile. "That would be wonderful."

Just as Gu Xi was about to go back to the house to get the seeds, Mr. Zhao called out to her and then beckoned to Shen Yue, who was standing nearby.

Shen Yue walked over, took out a few small, transparent plastic bags containing unknown plant seeds from his large backpack, and handed them directly to Gu Xi.

Gu Xi’s gaze traveled up the man’s well-defined, long, and strong hands. She looked up at his face and, at this close distance, noticed his brow was somewhat prominent. Deep within his jet-black pupils, was that a flash of pale violet light that vanished in an instant?

’Mixed-race?’

’Or a side effect from some kind of unstable ability?’

Looking into those eyes, Gu Xi suddenly felt a strange sense of familiarity. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

But in her memory, there was no such person as Shen Yue, and she had never seen those eyes before...

Pushing aside the distracting thoughts, Gu Xi took the seeds. Without bothering to identify what kind of plant they were, she selected a few seeds with the lowest mutation coefficient and relatively highest activity and scattered them directly onto the ground.

Because she hadn’t tilled the land for a few days, the weeds in the field were now about a foot high. The moment the tiny seeds hit the ground, they were instantly swallowed up and disappeared from sight.

"Oh..." Before Mr. Zhao could even let out a sigh of disappointment, a small green sprout had already shot out from Gu Xi’s fingertip.

Thinking about Mr. Zhao’s identity, Gu Xi had a sudden flash of inspiration.

This time, she didn’t use her ability to envelop the strange energy within the seeds. Instead, she chose to devour it completely before accelerating the growth—the exact same method she had used the first time she planted sweet potatoes.

Soon, a few strange plants burst through the surrounding weeds, instantly growing to over six feet tall.

"Stop!" Mr. Zhao suddenly shouted, his voice filled with excitement.

Gu Xi didn’t recognize the crop, so upon hearing him, she immediately cut off her ability’s output.

She looked up at Mr. Zhao. "Professor, is it done already?" ’Something feels off,’ she thought.

She had a feeling the plants weren’t fully mature yet and that she could have pushed their growth a little more...

Mr. Zhao, however, was looking at the Experimental No. 1 mutant upland rice plants that had grown in an instant, an ecstatic expression on his face.

He hadn’t seen a plant with such a pure color in a very long time.

Just then, the other agricultural expert, Mr. Zhang, also came over.

The two old professors gathered around the mutant upland rice plants, took out the instruments they carried with them, and began their work of sampling and analysis...

Gu Xi quietly stepped aside, planning to go wash her hands by the creek.

Xv Yiyisan paid no mind to the mutant upland rice. Instead, he walked over to Gu Xi. "Good child, all these years..."

Gu Xi: "..."

Gu Xi fell silent. The look in Xv Yiyisan’s eyes and his tone of voice gave her an inexplicably strange feeling.

After a moment’s thought, she interrupted him. "You should probably just call me Gu, like Mr. Zhao does."

Xv Yiyisan frowned slightly, a disapproving look on his face. ’How could that be the same?’

The thought that this was very likely his sister’s child, her only bloodline left in this world, made his expression soften with even more affection. He gentled his tone and said:

"Xiaoxi, don’t be afraid. I’m a friend of your mother’s. If you’re willing, you can call me uncle..."

Gu Xi: "..." ’I have no problem calling you that,’ she thought, ’but I’m afraid you won’t be able to handle it when you find out the truth someday.’